A study published today in the journal Science describes a simple behavioural procedure that reduces heroin addicts’ cravings and could also prevent them from relapsing after they’ve kicked the habit. As I explain in this news story for Nature, the procedure involves manipulating addicts’ memories of past drug use, and could lead to non-pharmacological therapy for addiction, as well as psychiatric conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder and phobia.

Preventing cravings is one of the biggest challenges in the treatment of addiction, because they often cause ex-addicts to relapse into drug use. Current treatments effectively relieve cravings in the clinic, but not when addicts return to their usual environment, because exposure to paraphernalia and other stimuli associated with the effects of the drug trigger the addict’s habitual response of using the drug once again.